The Prisoner
by melissabann
Summary: A short one-shot of an interaction between Miriallia and Dearka while he was a prisoner. He asks he the all important question, how did she become a soldier.


She walked down the cold empty hall alone. She had done it many times over the past few days. Every time she was filled with this strange mixture of fear and excitement. How was it possible that one single person could evoke such feelings in her.

As the door opened to the brig she felt her hands tremble, causing the water in the glass to be filled with ripples. She was delivering food to the ARCHANGEL's one and only prisoner, Dearka Elsman. Over the past few days they had exchanged very few words. She had learned that he was not Tolle's killer. She was surprised how relieved she was that it wasn't him. Maybe what surprised her more was how relieved he seemed to have been. During another exchange she told him her name, although she made it clear she didn't want him to address her by it. So he had settled for calling her miss, not that she like that much either.

In the days she had known him she noticed he was changing. His cold hate-filled expressions had softened. His cruel remarks had, for the most part, ceased to exist. It was almost like he was becoming another person. It was easy to understand why. She couldn't imagine being in his position, prisoner of the enemy. He had be stuck there for days not knowing what fate had in store for him. All he could do was wait and think.

She stood in front of his cell door. He was laying on the bed sleeping. He looked so at peace. She wondered when the last time he had a peaceful sleep was. His team seemed to always be in hot pursuit of their ship. It was hard for them to get sleep between attacks, so how much sleep had he really gotten. She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. Why was she so concerned with how much sleep he had gotten in the last bit? He was the enemy after all.

She took a deep breath. All she had to do was put down the tray and walk away. He was asleep. It should be easy right? But somehow she felt disappointed. Part of her wanted to hear his voice. It seemed to bring her comfort... somehow. Not that she really understood why.

"Are you just going to stare all day? Or are you going to set that tray down?" She hear his voice echo, causing her to jump.

"Uhhh... Sorry" she said blushing embarrassed. "I thought you were sleeping." She watched as he got out of bed and started to stretch.

"I was." He said simply before looking her way. He tilted his head to the side and looked at her with a strange look. He seemed to be confused, like he was trying to figure something out. Miriallia's couldn't help but be uncomfortable with his visual probing.

"What is your problem?" She snapped.

"Besides the fact you're still holding the tray?" She looked down and blushed again. Did he really throw her off that much that she would forget something silly like that.

"Sorry" she replied as she knelt down and passed the tray through. As she stood up she noticed he was still giving her that same look. "So what else is your issue?"

"You"

"Me?" She asked pointing to herself. It was her turn to get confused. "What about me?"

"I don't get it. No offensive Miss but you don't strike me as the soldier type."

"Because I'm not some cold hearted jerk who doesn't get upset when someone they care about is killed?"

"Because you don't seem to have any kind of ill will towards coordinators. Even a guy like me who has shown you a horrible side of themselves. You still come down here everyday and face me. So why? Why are you a soldier."

"I could ask you the same thing."

"And you would get the same generic answer most ZAFT soldier give. Junius seven sparked the ranks to grow. But I'm sure you are at least smart enough to figure that out. You don't have to tell me you know. Everyone has their reasons, doesn't mean they want to share them."

She looked him in the eyes for a few seconds, she could see he was genuinely curious. Figuring it couldn't hurt anything she decided to tell him her story. "I was a student at Heliopolis." He looked at her shocked. He did expect to hear her say that. "We were neutral. I never thought we would get involved in the war. But when you guys attacked that day... It was a rude awakening. We weren't able to escape, and to make things worst we had seen a top military secret. We became somewhat prisoners of the Earth Alliance for a short time. We escaped Heliopolis on the ARCHANGEL before the collapse. After that we all volunteered. We had seen too much, been through too much to just walk away."

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely. "Destroying Heliopolis... It wasn't part of the plan."

"I know... It was a consequence of war... Nothing more." She looked down at his food and then back at him. "I have to get back to the bridge, if I hear any updates on your status I'll be sure to inform you. For now you should make sure to eat and get plenty of rest. You never know what tomorrow will bring." She started to walk off slowly.

"Miriallia" he said calling after her. She felt her heart beating fast in her chest hearing her name coming out of his mouth. She stopped in her tracks but didn't turn around.

"What is it now?"

"Uhhh... It's nothing. I wanted to thank you. It gets kind of lonely down here. It nice to see a cutie with a pretty face now and then." She just smiled, pretending to ignore his comment she made her way to the exit.

Dearka Elsman... She couldn't quite put her finger on him. Was he a good guy or bad news? Only time would tell.


End file.
